China’s Evolving Role in Latin America

In this episode of the Mapping Global China Conversations series, host Maria Adele Carrai interviews Margaret Myers, Director of the Asia & Latin America Program at the Inter-American Dialogue, to explore how China’s economic engagement with Latin America is changing.

 

🔹 Key topics discussed:

•⁠ ⁠From the Belt and Road’s early mega-loans to today’s targeted investments

•⁠ ⁠Why Chinese state lending to Latin America has sharply declined

•⁠ ⁠The growing focus on “new infrastructure” sectors—innovation, technology, and green energy

•⁠ ⁠Misperceptions about China–Latin America relations and the role of local actors

•⁠ ⁠Lessons from large projects that stalled or failed

 

🎙️ Margaret shares data-driven insights and vivid case studies—from Venezuela’s unfinished railways to Argentina’s halted dam projects—revealing how both Chinese and Latin American stakeholders co-create this evolving relationship.